It's been a long time coming for John Baumann. Kenny Chesney actually had Baumann's "Gulf Moon" on hold for several years. It was supposed to make his last album. But when it didn't Baumann had pretty much given up hope of it ever happening.

When John was on Radio Texas, LIVE! last summer he told us that he thought the song was going to be included on Chesney's '16 record, everyone did.

Then about six weeks before Cosmic Hallelujah was set to be released, Baumann got the news. "I got a phone call. I was in a hotel room in Wichita Falls," he told us. "It was at the end of a long night, the call was from my manager and he told me [the song] wasn't going to make it... I was down in the dumps for a while, but a lot of this album [Proving Ground] is is kind of like Phoenix rising from the ashes."

Sometimes things work out for the best. Battling through the frustration of his song not making the Chesney album, Baumann was inspired to write one of the best albums in Texas of '17 -- and then he still got that allusive Chesney cut.

More From KIKN-FM / Kickin' Country 99.1/100.5